Study: Nearly half overqualified for jobs

[Anti Federalist]

Yah, no degree inflation going on here.

:rolleyes:



Study: Nearly half overqualified for jobs

http://triblive.com/usworld/nation/3374330-74/percent-degree-college

By USA Today

Published: Sunday, January 27, 2013, 9:34 p.m.

Updated 3 hours ago

Nearly half of working Americans with college degrees are in jobs for which they’re overqualified, a study out on Monday suggests.

And the study, released by the nonprofit Center for College Affordability and Productivity, argues that the trend is likely to continue for newly minted college graduates in the next decade.

“It is almost the new normal,” said lead author Richard Vedder, an Ohio University economist and founder of the center, based in Washington.

The number of Americans whose highest academic degree was a bachelor’s grew 25 percent to 41 million between 2002 and 2012, statistics released last week from the U.S. Census Bureau show.

The number with associate’s degrees increased 31 percent, while the number of Americans for whom the highest level of education attainment was a master’s or doctorate degree grew fastest of all — 45 percent and 43 percent, respectively.

Earnings in 2011 averaged $59,415 for people with any earnings ages 25 and older whose highest degree was a bachelor’s degree, and $32,493 for people with a high school diploma but no college, the census data show.

Vedder, whose study is based on 2010 Labor Department data, says the problem is the stock of college graduates in the workforce (41.7 million) in 2010 was larger than the number of jobs requiring a college degree (28.6 million).

That, he says, helps explain why 15 percent of taxi drivers in 2010 had bachelor’s degrees versus 1 percent in 1970. Among retail sales clerks, 25 percent had a bachelor’s degree in 2010. Less than 5 percent did in 1970.

“There are going to be an awful lot of disappointed people because a lot of them are going to end up as janitors,” Vedder says. In 2010, 5 percent of janitors, 115,520 workers, had bachelor’s degrees, data show.

Matt Moberg, who provides training for the Cleaning Management Institute in Latham, N.Y., says the percentage of degree-holding janitors was probably smaller before the recession, but adds that those with four-year degrees likely are business owners or workers in online degree programs.

Vedder’s findings are at odds with a report released last week by a pro-business public policy organization that seeks to boost financial aid for low-income students.

“Right now you can look around the world and you can see a lot of high-tech, high-value, high-productivity jobs that we are not doing in this country, in part because our country does not have the requisite skills,” says Joe Minarik of the Washington-based Committee for Economic Development.

[Tpoints]

Yah, no degree inflation going on here.

:rolleyes:

ha, good phrase to learn!

[Philhelm]

Well, either I'm overqualified to be unemployed or underqualified to be retired.

I think it's worse for intelligent people, degree or otherwise, that are forced to perform menial tasks while their minds are trapped in a cage of rage and despair.

[oyarde]

Well , I expect the only job offerings in the long term future will not require a degree ...

[DamianTV]

Allow me to summarize the State of our Educational and Employment situation into just one very easy to understand term: The Educated Poor.

[thoughtomator]

Well, either I'm overqualified to be unemployed or underqualified to be retired.

I think it's worse for intelligent people, degree or otherwise, that are forced to perform menial tasks while their minds are trapped in a cage of rage and despair.

That's their own egos which are the problem. Einstein worked as a clerk in a patent office and it magically didn't break his brain.

[Tod]

Well, either I'm overqualified to be unemployed or underqualified to be retired.

I think it's worse for intelligent people, degree or otherwise, that are forced to perform menial tasks while their minds are trapped in a cage of rage and despair.

On the other hand, as others have suggested, maybe menial tasks free up the mind to venture into new territory. I might have never become a Ron Paul voter had I not been "liberated" from a sedentary job that utilized (somewhat) my degree and "enslaved" by a more physically active but more menial job that allows my mind to wander...

[alucard13mmfmj]

On the other hand, as others have suggested, maybe menial tasks free up the mind to venture into new territory. I might have never become a Ron Paul voter had I not been "liberated" from a sedentary job that utilized (somewhat) my degree and "enslaved" by a more physically active but more menial job that allows my mind to wander...

your right. when im doing some menial job (at the post office), i had a lot of time to think while sweating and pulling 2-3,000 pound carts for 6 hours about 100 yards back and forth.

[AFPVet]

Yep... I have lost a lot of opportunities because I would apply for a job and it didn't require a degree. I would've landed the gig had I omitted my degree and put my high school back on there.

They just don't want to pay you more or risk losing you to some better company/position when one comes up. They would rather have someone with field experience and who wouldn't just 'run off'.

[Tpoints]

Yep... I have lost a lot of opportunities because I would apply for a job and it didn't require a degree. I would've landed the gig had I omitted my degree and put my high school back on there.

They just don't want to pay you more or risk losing you to some better company/position when one comes up. They would rather have someone with field experience and who wouldn't just 'run off'.

Do you think if you sat down your applicants (or vice versa) and really talked to them, they'd honest up a bit?

Employer says : Hey, we want to hire long term people, if you can't do long term, don't worry, we understand you just need a job, even for a short term, please understand we may treat and pay you like a short term person. And if you have a price tag that'll keep you here, let us know, maybe we CAN try to keep you, but please be honest with us.

Applicant says : Yeah, I just want a job. I need money, I hate lying about my intentions. If you paid me X dollars, I'll stay as long as I can. If you can't, that's fine. You should hardly worry about better offers coming up, in this economy? You're kidding! I may be overqualified, but for the right money I'll sit, stay, and STFU. If you think I'm demanding too much just for job security, or there's plenty more applicants, we can work something out. We want the same thing, stability.

[CaptUSA]

I would argue that a college degree doesn't qualify you for jack-shit. "Over-qualified" in your own little elitist mind, maybe.

Exactly what qualifications do you get in college? The ability to pay someone to write your papers for you? The ability to remember on Monday what was told to you on Thursday of last week? The ability to quickly look things up, rearrange the words, and write them down again?

Listen, I have degrees, but I never allowed them to get in the way of my education. It is education and experience that qualifies people - not some paper that they give you for being able to color in their lines.

[BAllen]

Part of it is due to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx--jNQYNgA

[torchbearer]

Do you think if you sat down your applicants (or vice versa) and really talked to them, they'd honest up a bit?

Employer says : Hey, we want to hire long term people, if you can't do long term, don't worry, we understand you just need a job, even for a short term, please understand we may treat and pay you like a short term person. And if you have a price tag that'll keep you here, let us know, maybe we CAN try to keep you, but please be honest with us.

Applicant says : Yeah, I just want a job. I need money, I hate lying about my intentions. If you paid me X dollars, I'll stay as long as I can. If you can't, that's fine. You should hardly worry about better offers coming up, in this economy? You're kidding! I may be overqualified, but for the right money I'll sit, stay, and STFU. If you think I'm demanding too much just for job security, or there's plenty more applicants, we can work something out. We want the same thing, stability.


I had similar experience as AFPVet a few years ago.
I now tailor resume for the job.

[AFPVet]

I would argue that a college degree doesn't qualify you for jack-shit. "Over-qualified" in your own little elitist mind, maybe.

Exactly what qualifications do you get in college? The ability to pay someone to write your papers for you? The ability to remember on Monday what was told to you on Thursday of last week? The ability to quickly look things up, rearrange the words, and write them down again?

Listen, I have degrees, but I never allowed them to get in the way of my education. It is education and experience that qualifies people - not some paper that they give you for being able to color in their lines.

I don't know about you, but I never paid someone to do my research and write my papers. I had to learn to think critically and solve hypothetical problems in my programs... yes, I was a dual program grad. My public and environmental affairs program taught me about public policy and how to navigate prospective government management positions. My general studies program allowed me to emphasize communication and critical thinking skills.

It really depends on the professors. There are not just good and bad schools... the professors make or break your experience. I am sorry that you seem to have had a poor undergraduate experience... personally, I learned a great deal!

[dinosaur]

Well, either I'm overqualified to be unemployed or underqualified to be retired.

I think it's worse for intelligent people, degree or otherwise, that are forced to perform menial tasks while their minds are trapped in a cage of rage and despair.

I kind of like menial tasks, they give the mind time to rest and daydream about my more important projects.

[CaptUSA]

personally, I learned a great deal!Please re-read my post. Your education is what you make of it. But the piece of paper they give you means nothing. It gives you absolutely zero qualifications. Now, perhaps the education you earned (notice I don't say "received" - you can't "receive" an education) may have gotten you some qualifications, but the degree is nothing. The simple fact that cheating is rampant in college devalues any degree you may get. If someone else can do it and still get the degree, how do I know you didn't do it? That's where your qualifications come in. The degree doesn't qualify you for anything.

I do plenty of interviewing and hiring. I've seen people with masters and people with GED's. Trust me. These pieces of paper are no indication of qualifications.

[belian78]

Well, either I'm overqualified to be unemployed or underqualified to be retired.

I think it's worse for intelligent people, degree or otherwise, that are forced to perform menial tasks while their minds are trapped in a cage of rage and despair.
That's my day to day. Although I am working every which way I can to get out of my current job and into something more fitting for me.